I t would be ha rd to find an economic topic more top-of-mind than the impact healthcare will have on the economy heading into 2013 with everything from the rollout of the A ff ordable Care Act nationally to the opening of a new hospital in College Station that will anchor the city’s new medical district and Texas A&M University winning a huge federal contract to become one of the nation’s major hubs of vaccine production and bioterror preparedness. With both cities plus the Texas A&M System invested in continued development of Th e Research Valley’s One Health Plus Biocorridor, everything from jobs to real estate to sales tax from support businesses will be a ff ected by growth related to healthcare and medicine.
For Brazos Valley and central Texas residents, it will mean new doctors coming to the area and a greater number healthcare facilities as well as new models of care designed to streamline costs and improve medical outcomes. For businesses, it portends growth from continued investment in infrastructure and opening new markets for sales. While no one has a perfectly functioning crystal ball, those closest to the medical and healthcare markets have very intriguing perspectives on the ways the local economy will be impacted by money and medicine in 2013.
For that reason, the Bryan/College Station Chamber of Commerce has invited representatives from some of the major players in the healthcare market to gather in one place with one goal: forecast that economic impact for 2013. This annual event has sold out seating the past two years and this year’s January 23 conference at the College Station Hilton is projected to do the same.
The Economic Outlook Conference preview article that leads off this issue of Insite is designed to answer the question, “Why would I devote a half-day to attending an Economic Outlook Conference?” The answer lies in how interested you are in the impact money and medicine will have on your personal 2013 economy.
– Angelique Gammon
